Setting the Stage:For the second straight game, the Cards came out flat and lethargically. This time it was to the lightly regarded Falcons. Everything that could go wrong went wrong - Ryan, J Jones, Hester and Jackson had their way with us. On the flip side, Drew Stanton continued to look "less than meh" and his receivers (Floyd, Ginn and Jaron Brown had, at best, up & down outings. However, this was the first week where the once vaunted Cardinal defense failed to step up and carry the team on its back. To put it bluntly - if the Cards keep doing like they're doing, you can kiss the season goodbye. Meanwhile, KClost to the Broncos and are fighting for their lives to remain alive in the AFC playoff picture.

Opponents' Last Game:Kansas City fell behind early (down 14 - zip in the first quarter, 20 - 7 by halftime and could never close the gap as they lost to the Broncs 29 - 16 to go 7 & 5 and 3rd to the Broncos and Chargers in the AFC West playoff hunt. KC trailed Denver in most key stats, including a huge Time of Possession deficit of 38:47 to 21:13.

First Quarter

KC received. Davis returned the opening KO to his own 31, but KC went 3 & out. Punt was downed at the Denver 26. First four Denver plays were running plays. In fact, 6 of the first 7 plays were running plays. The 8th play was a 23-yard TD pass from Manning to D. Thomas. Denver 7 - KC 0.

KO was returned by Davis to the KC 35. Three & outsville again. Punt was returned to the KC 48. Once more, Manning led his offense to a TD in 10 plays - mostly passes of medium length capped by a 15-yard TD pass to Anderson. Broncs 14 - KC 0.

D Thomas returned the KO to his own 31 yard line but the Chiefs went "backward" due to a sack and a penalty) and punted from their own 21. Denver returned the punt to their own 33 to end the quarter.

First Quarter Score: Broncos 14 - Chiefs 0.

Second Quarter

Denver marched to the KC 4, where they setled for a 22-yard Barth FG, using up nearly half the quarter in doing so. . Broncos 17 - Chiefs 0.

KO was returned to the KC 31. On the 6th play of the KC possession, a 19-yard completion deep-right from Smith to Kelce set up a 20-yard TD pass deep-middle to Kelce. Denver 17 - KC 7.

3:02 left till halftime. KO was returned to the Denver 41. Manning engineered a 10-play drive which was halted at the KC 4 where they had to settle for a 24-yard Barth FG with 0:19 ticks on the clock. That was pretty much "it" for the 1st half. Denver 20 - KC 7.

First Half Score: Broncos 20 - Chiefs 7.

Third Quarter

Denver received. KO was returned to the Denver 21. After the Broncs moved to their own 28 in three plays, Manning was sacked by Houston and fumbled. Recovered by KC (Coleman). KC ball on the Denver 23. Chiefs couldn't get anything going and 4 plays later, Santos's 39-yard FG attempt was good. Denver 20 - KC 10.

Bolden returned the KO to the Denver 24. Denver was able to get to the KC 39 in nine plays before punting. (Kind of close-in to punt instead of kick a FG). Ball was downed at the KC 11. On the first play of the KC possession, Smith's pass for Bowe was picked off by Ware Denver ball on the KC 13. After tree plays netted 2 yards. Barth kicked a 30-yard FG. Denver 23 - KC 10.

KO was returned to the KC 35. KC went three & out. Punt was returned to the Denver 27. KC held Broncs to three & out. Cooper muffed the reception, and it was recovered by Denver. Ball on KC 37. Denver moved to the KC 11 in four plays to end the quarter.

KO was returned to the KC 38. Smith mixed a scramble with four short-medium completions and then capitalized on a roughing the passer penalty to hit Charles for 12-yard TD. Denver 26 - KC 17.

KO was returned to the Denver 16. 11:46 to go. Sixteen and twenty-yard runs by Anderson helped set up a 37-yard Barth FG. Denver 29 - KC 17.

7:33 left. KO was returned to the KC 24. Chiefs held to 3 & out. Punt & penalty made it Denver ball on the KC 46. Chiefs held them to 3 & out. 25 yard punt went out of bounds at the KC 16. 5:40 left. On the seventh play of the KC possession, Avery caught a short pass from Smith and picked up 20-yards only to put the ball on the ground. Denver recovered. Broncs ball on their own 31 with 3:44 left.

Denver punted 5 plays later. KC took over on their own 17. Three & out. Knee. Game over.

Final Score: Denver 29 - KC 17.

Game StatsDenver led KC in most major stats - Passing and rushing yardage, turnovers, sacks, Time of Possession etc.

Matchup: KC Passing Attack vs. Cardinal Pass Defense
Smith's stats describe a conservative highly-efficient QB who doesn't make a lot of mistakes. Note that his top two receivers last week were his RB (Charles) and TE (Kelce). Smith was sacked 6 times last week.

Matchup: KC Rushing Attack vs. Cardinal Run Defense
Charles is having a Pro Bowl year but had a bad hair day, gaining just 35 yards last week vs. Denver. Card run defense allowed Steven Jackson to ramble for a 55 yard TD and gain over 100 yards last week. Cardinal fans - be very scared.

Key Matchups: Charles vs. usual suspects (Foote, Minter and Cardinal safeties) but also Shaughnessy, Okafor and Acho on the perimeter, where Charles does most of his damage.

Matchup: Cardinal Passing Attack vs. KC Pass DefenseAfter a few decent but not spectacular starts, Stanton has come back to earth with a few meh games (including an especially discouraging outing last week in Atlanta. He didn't have Fitz to throw to again. but Floyd, Ginn and the Brown boys failed to step up. The OL seems to be doing OK, but you also get the feeling that Stanton feels obliged to get rid of the ball before he's ready to do so.

Chefs only sacked Manning once last week. Houston is their sackmeister with 12.0 sacks. Their interception stats don't indicate any ballhawks lurking in the weeds, so maybe this will be the week where Stanton gets his mojo back (He will have to if we expect to make the playoffs).

Matchup: Cardinal Running Attack vs. KC Run Defense
Cardinal run offense has sunk back into the abyss. Ellington had another bad day last week in Atlanta. It will be interesting to see if Bush is ready to be a Cardinal force between the tackles and in short yardage.

Chiefs gave up 214 net rushing yards last week presenting another opportunity for the Cardinal run game to get untracked.

Matchup: KC Special Teams vs. Cardinal Special Teams
Neither Colquitt or Santos appear to have especially strong legs, but Santos is very accurate. Butler remains a bit shaky getting his punts away. Catanzaro is heavy-legged and accurate. Last Sunday, there didn't appear to be any touchbacks on KC kickoffs. This may be the week where Ginn makes his presence felt.

CoachingAndy Reid is a foxy old dude who gave us fits when he was HC of the Eagles. He's evidently having to deal with a distraction in the form of an obscene gesture by TE Travis Kelce. (Kelce maintains his gesture was merely a form of communication meant to indicate his displeasure a Denver player over a late hit. Reid termed it: "Immature" and said that he "normally doesn't let thise things go." Stay tuned.

This will be our first opportunity to see how Cardinal coach Bruce Arians handles adversity in the form a loss-skid. Losing one winnable game causes you to scratch your head. Losing two in a row is scary because it could be the precursor of a longer skid that could cost us the playoffs. Stay tuned.

Last WordTalk is cheap. Suck it up and win, baby.

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